Stern’s Folly Turns NBA Into a Joke

The NBA’s recent lockout had people questioning whether commissioner David Stern had lost control of the league, and now there’s no longer any doubt. Not after Stern’s incomprehensible rejection of the Chris Paul trade. Steve Kerr, the very level-headed TV analyst who once ran the Phoenix Suns, called it “one of the dumbest decisions the league has ever made,” and even Stern’s longtime allies in the media can’t defend him this time.

I”m not sure how this plays out. Maybe common sense will prevail and the trade will go through, after all. But did you notice that all three teams joined in an appeal? That’s because none of them felt ripped off; they were delighted. Houston got Pau Gasol, one of the best post-up players of recent years. The Lakers got the pure star power they wanted. New Orleans made out like bandits, landing Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a first-round draft pick (from Houston, through the Knicks). What a haul! Here they were in position to fret all season about Paul, certain to leave the team as a free agent next summer, and instead they moved well into the rebuilding process.

That’s until Stern, the horrid little dictator, lamely announced that the rejection was made for “basketball reasons” and that the league would be “better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform.” Good lord. Not only was this a perfectly acceptable trade under the league’s new CBA, since when does Stern become the judge and jury on a trade? It’s bad enough that the league officially owns the Hornets, a hopeless franchise that should have been wiped out in a contraction process. General manager Dell Demps was absolutely within his rights to make this deal, only to be overruled by a commissioner who has become little more than a puppet, led around like a sweater-clad poodle by the league’s small-market owners.

Here’s the really hilarious part about Stern’s decision: It could only have happened this week. The owners were all in one place to ratify the CBA, so they were able to gather and make sinister plans, like some two-bit underworld outfit from Jersey. They were able to have a group response to that letter from Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, so outraged by the deal that he demanded action. That’s right, Dan Gilbert, the guy who lost LeBron James and publicly reacted like a 12-year-old juvenile delinquent.

If Stern still had control of the NBA, he wouldn’t have given this trade a second thought. So the Lakers got what they want? Hell, that’s the whole history of the league. It’s a big reason why fans have always cared, tossing aside their quibbles and savoring the elite matchups that have made this league a success. Small owners don’t want to hear this, but star players will always want to join the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks or any other big-time operation at the game’s elite level. The fact that a bunch of wealthy clowns can interrupt the process is staggering to the imagination.

Hell, you can’t even say for sure that this deal helps the Lakers. It leaves them without Gasol and Odom, thus pushing Derrick Caracter and Luke Walton into the frontcourt with Andrew Bynum until further notice. There was talk that the Lakers could turn around and deal Bynum to Orlando for Dwight Howard, but all reports suggest that the Magic will get better offers, yielding more than one quality player in return.

So here’s your brand-new, post-CBA league under David Stern’s watch. The players, already weary of his condescending attitude, simply despise him now. It’s time for a change.